Hi friends! I'm mostly recovered from catching a cold/throwing out my back/turning 40, so it's time to catch up on everything I let slide during that time. Let's get right into it, since there's a lot to cover. First, here's what I read over the last two weeks or so. Books marked with a * were gifted to me, and books marked with a ^ I was paid to read.

Not With A Bang by Temi Oh* - If Temi Oh has no fans, I am dead. I love her deeply emotional sci-fi that digs into the interpersonal fallout of what would in other books just be plot-plot-plot. In this story, the Minton family has sort of eye-rollingly put up with their dad becoming a doomsday prepper, but then the apocalypse really does happen. It's at a critical moment when the family is not all together at home, so they each have to invent their own plans, and then grapple with the choices they made. It's a bit along the lines of an Emily St. John Mandel book, where the sci-fi element sometimes takes a backseat. The one thing I would knock this book down for is the kind of strange perspective of the writing. Chapters are titled with different character names but it's still mostly through Briar's perspective rather than the more expected POV shifts. It took a bit to get a handle on that.

Westward Women by Alice Martin* - This book has such a good concept - women mysteriously begin to feel an urge to go west - and it's just disappointingly executed. The various women are kind of hard to tell apart (even on audio with different narrators I struggled) and somehow the story becomes all about a man. I wish this had taken a more WORLD WAR Z style approach to the story, with more narrators showing every angle of the epidemic.

One Word, Six Letters by Adib Khorram* - I'll admit that I was dubious about this book. I didn't love the idea of spending time in the POV of a boy who said a slur at a school assembly. And yeah, it was kind of tough to be in it at times, but ultimately I'm glad I read it. Khorram is great at depicting the inner lives of boys, and the many confusing feelings of the MCs are teased out to great effect here. I liked that it really got into what makes a meaningful apology, and also that not everything was tidily happy at the end.

The Four Wives And Five Deaths of Richard Milford by Nafissa Thompson-Spires* - How on earth is so much packed into this tiny book? In under 200 pages we are gifted with comedy, drama, mystery, and so many secrets. I kind of loved how the women couldn't always articulate their reasons for living life this way, or for putting up with Richard. The chapters with the town as a Greek chorus spanning decades were particularly enjoyable, with juicy, showy sentences that were a joy to read. I don't want to talk about the actual plot too much because I think you should have the pleasure of finding that all out on your own!

Nobody's Baby by Olivia Waite* - This is the second novella in a cozy sci-fi mystery series, and it was such fun to be back on board the Fairweather with these characters. Somehow, a baby turns up 300 years into an interstellar trip, and that is most definitely not supposed to be able to happen. Never fear, though, Dorothy is on the case. My quibble with this installment is the same as the first - she solves it in one try. There are no red herrings or misunderstood evidence at all.

Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe* - I was afraid this book was going to be overhyped, and I'm so glad I was wrong. I flew through this, completely immersed in the dystopian world of New Found Haven. I am not usually a fan of enemies to lovers stories, but this one really works. They're actual enemies, not just "he's annoying" enemies, and you watch them actually begin to like and respect each other as the story advances. Be aware that it's extremely violent (and I do think it goes maybe one step too far at the end). There are some really good plot twists, and a couple that are maybe there just for the sake of extra twists, but I was certainly kept on the edge of my seat.

One Good Thing - Because I don't have enough hobbies and because I don't know how to have normal hobbies, I have begun to teach myself how to make nail polish. Why not learn a new thing at 40? Why not take over my spouse's workbench and make it look like Tinkerbell exploded? I may have ordered a lot of supplies and may have several ideas cooking, because LOOK! SPARKLY! YAY!

My gloved hand holding a bottle of homemade blue glittery nail polish.

Anyway, here's what Donut likes to do while I cook dinner. Onward!

Donut the orange and white cat laying belly up on the counter over the dishwasher.